EnglishPGG Wrightson’s large Chinese shareholder is making a bid for control of the rural services company.
Agria Corporation, which already has a 19% shareholding, is offering 60c a share to take its total stake to 50.1%.
Agria has already agreed to buy Pyne Gould Corporation’s 18.3% holding and has another 5% held by an HSBC nominee company.
This takes its total shareholding to 42.4%, leaving only about to 65 million shares to reach the target.
PGC said total the sale of its shareholding would slice $30 million off its half-year result to December 31, with an estimated loss overall of $31-33 million.
The Agria bid values PGG Wrightson at $455 million.
Agria is bidding with another Chinese agribusiness company, New Hope Group.
The 60c a share offer is a 25% premium to yesterday’s closing price of 48c a share. The offer is open until April 15.
The bid is subject to Overseas Investment Office approval.
Earlier this week, the OIO rejected a bid by another Chinese-backed company to buy the Crafar farms.
This continues to be the damage that Craig Norgate and his follow directors has inflicted upon Wrightson which once was a proud NZ owned company but now is a weak takeover target. We have yet to see the rumored share holder action against these directors take place but now it must surely happen.
